2011 Acura TSX Sport Wagon: GMR

July 25, 2011

Question: What do Levi Leipheimer, Chris Horner, George Hincapie and the Acura TSX Sport Wagon have in common?

The Answer:

They all climbed up Glendora Mountain Road earlier this year during stage 7 of the Tour of California. Leipheimer won the mountain stage, which ended at the Mount Baldy ski area, while Horner finished second and cemented his TOC victory.

Big George and the TSX have even more of a connection. Hincapie rides for the BMC Racing Team, an American-based outfit riding Swiss-made BMC bicycles. Team BMC uses Acura TSX Sport Wagons as support vehicles for all of its North American racing activities, including the TOC. Hincapie, you might recall, helped some guy named Lance capture seven Tour de France titles.

How does this relate to our long-term TSX wagon? Well, the TSX carried me and my road bicycle to the base of GMR so that I could semi-emulate this stage, albeit at a much more sane pace. GMR is not only a great car-driving road (we've used it many times here at Inside Line), but it's also my favorite bicycle road in California. It's some 25 miles of nearly-continuous up if you start at the base of GMR and ride all the way to the ski slope. Followed by, you guessed it, another 25 miles of almost-continuous down once you turn around. The down is more fun.

One final connection is that BMC's Cadel Evans won the Tour de France yesterday, the first Australian ever to do so, with Hincapie once again helping. The BMC team doesn't use Acuras as support vehicles over in Europe, though.

I am curious what a TSX wagon would be like packed with 3 or 4 team managers and mechanics, all the gear required for a pro bicycle race and a multitude of bicycles stacked on the roof. The TSX isn't particularly inspiring with just one bicycle stashed inside.

Which begs the question that I'm sure one or two of you are now asking, How Well Does The Bike Fit? Stay tuned.